When a Refashion Fails

Not every refashion is a win. The bummer of it is, sometimes you don't even realize until the very end, after you've spent nearly 3 hours in your un-air-conditioned sewing room where it's 87 degrees and all along you think you've got a winner on your dress form. Here's the story:

At a glance, you might think this was a win...it's not.

I bought this plan blue dress several months ago and set it aside after taking a few inches off the bottom. It has a matching belt, but I'm not sure where I put it.

Meh. I dig the neckline though.

Because it's so hot, I figured those sleeves had to go. I also wanted to do something interesting with the back, maybe a conservative racer-back, just slightly cut-in, so I chopped away and then turned the dress inside out on my dress form. That's when I saw this:

What's this I see around the neckline? Something I can use as a round collar, I think.

I dig that look of dress or tops with a round collar. So I decided that's what I'd do with this piece of materials. I started to take it off using a seam ripper but that was taking too long so I just yanked it off.

Don't worry, this will be on the inside.

Next, I cleaned up those frayed edged by rehemming all along my new collar. Then, I pinned it on the wrong side of the dress, around the neck line. That way, when flipped to the correct side, those seams would be invisible. (See...even with a fail, I learn or practice a new trick.)

Then, I just sewed that in place and turned the dress right-side out and back on the dress form. My technique of ripping left some frayed edges visible, so I pinned the collar in such a way so that my top-stitching would hide that.

Unsightly frayed edges.

Top-stitched and back on the form.

Nearly finished...or so I thought.

Now, when I see it in pictures, it's totally obvious that the arm holes are too big. And the dress needs to be taken in on the sides. Why I didn't see this from the get-go, I'm not sure. See, when I cut off the sleeves I was a bit too ambitious. This left the sides of the dress gaping. You can see that in the picture above. I didn't see, and I thought, "This dress is adorable!" So I put it on. There are no pictures of this because I was a sweaty mess.  But I pinned where the dress needed to be taken in and tried to tighten up the sleeve hole.

ALSO, while the neckline looks cute on the dress form, it didn't work in reality. The "straps" were too wide. The collar should extend past the sleeve part. So, back to the machine, I narrowed the sleeve area so the collar went past the edge.

Narrower arms so the collar extends past.

The arm holes are still such that I think I run the risk of -- side-boob!! EWWWW.

No one wants to see side-boob. Well, I don't.

I also don't like the way it hangs on me. So that's that. I didn't throw it out though. I'm not 100% giving up on this, but I don't think it will serve it's final days as a dress. Maybe a casual top. We'll see.

80's Fab to Now Wow (ha)

When I bought this dress at the thrift store, it was a stretch. The fabric is pretty bad, it's sort of slippery in a plastic way; the shoulder pads were overwhelming, and I wasn't even sure it would fit overall. But guess what? I liked the pattern (yeah, that's a theme with me.)

Nice sleeves. And neck.

So - I brought it home and threw it on my dress form to consider the possibilities. First things first - those sleeves had to go. Not to mention the neck.

That's much better. 

Next - pin up those jagged edges and sew in a hem. Easy peasy.

Then I wanted to do something about that rounded neckline - just to play around I tucked it in and sewed in an asymmetrical neckline.

Pinning the neckline and sleeves. 

I think it came out okay - not great, just okay.

Next up, loose some of the  length, add a sash and done. New updated dress to wear to work! I don't know, not bad for $9.00.

Ready for the office.

From "Meh" to "Fun!"

I gotta say, I dig this one. I actually bought this dress about 2 months ago - because of course I loved the colors. It buttons up the front and has a collar -- I'm not really keen on collars, but I was willing to give it a shot.

When I first got it home and put it on my dress form, I thought there wasn't much I could do to it. Maybe shorten it a bit, but that's it. So I put it away and pretty much forgot about. Here it is at the end of summer and I finally took it back out yesterday to give it another look-see.

As it turns out, yesterday I was messing around with some no-sew DIY halter tutorials from Wobisobi. Although the tute was really easy, mine didn't come out right -- but I'll try again because it was still really cute. So with halter on the brain, I turned to my dress and thought - that's it!

And here's how it went... 

Here's it is as purchased ($7.00 btw). Nice print, blah shape.

And from the back - this is where the magic happens on this one.

First, I cut out from under the arm and around the neck, leaving the collar and the fabric under the collar in tact.

This made the back very loose - I have pinned it here and later took that in a few inches.

Then I pinned all around the cut-out part.

All pinned.

All sewn up. In this pic, I have already sewn in the back seam to tighten up the dress. 

I also took about 6-8 inches (I don't measure) off the bottom and hemmed it. With the fabric from the hem, I made a sash to give the dress some more definition.

I don't like the way my hair/face looks in these pics so you only get a picture of me in the dress from the back. Trust me, you don't want to see me from this front in this -- it was 9AM.

I'm pretty happy with what turned out to be a sassy little dress! I plan to wear this in November in New Orleans on my Girl's Weekend! (Weather permitting.)

Skirt to Dress: The Easiest Refashions of them All

I actually did this one a few weeks ago but never got around to posting it. This started off as a Goodwill find -- a loooong pleated skirt that was too big for me, but I liked the coral color and the pleats. Bonus - it had a sash already attached! How convenient for making a halter-style sun dress.

Before I enlisted help with photos...

I actually don't have any photos of the in-process refashioning because 1. I didn't have my dress form yet, so I was really just winging it. 2. I didn't know I was going to blogging about these things.

Basically, I took in each side several inches and then cut out that excess fabric. I also chopped a few inches off the bottom -- I didn't hem it (mostly because I hate hemming) but it didn't seem like the fabric would fray. If anyone can tell me which fabrics are prone to fraying, please do!

So - here it is. I actually have worn this out a few times.

That tie thing is actually the back of the skirt, so technically I'm wearing it backwards.

I'm a photo-bombing dork.

From Indian Tunic Top to Cute Dress

This is my new favorite refashion! The thrift store I've been going to seems to have a good selection of these Indian tunics that women wear over pants. They are usually longer than a regular top and the sides are open from the hem to about the hip. I've done two of these so far. (Pictures of the other one coming "soon".)

I loved this one right away because of the color and because it has gold sequins all over it! This one is pretty straightforward because I liked it so much as is. For now, I'm going to wear it as a dress, but I might cut it even shorter and wear it as a shirt at some point.

I like the neckline- I even like the sleeves.

I love the detail and sequins on this fabric.

The inside of the fabric - I think those sequins were hand-sewn. Nice.

Pinned up those side slits

After that, I just took off about 5 inches from the length, hemmed it up and done. I could use the bottom piece as a sash, but it actually had a nice enough shape that it didn't need it. This pic isn't so great (I actually put this back on after going to the gym - so my hair is gross.)

Something New - And Something New from Something Old

Full disclosure - I bought something new. I would like to try to justify it by saying, "I had no choice" but it drives me crazy when I hear other people talking about doing things because they "had no choice." There is always a choice -- it might not always seem like it, but there is (sometimes, it's two bad choices, but there's still a choice.) That's an idea for a future blog.

In any case, I discovered that all 3 of my bathing suit tops had their elastic completely disintegrate. My choices? Don't do anything that involves a bathing suit this summer. Wear my old one piece from 2000. Or buy a new top (the black bikini bottoms are fine.) So I bought a $10 bikini top that should last me a while. But that's it -- a full 6-months into the year and that's all I've bought "new" that wasn't on the pre-approved list (1 pair sneakers, underwear.)

Something new from something old
Today I thought I'd post some of my refashions - I'm slowly getting up to speed on the basics and have worn several of my items out socially and no one has mocked me (to my face anyway.)

I have a few more, but I need to get better pics. In the meantime, I hit up a new-to-me thrift store today (where I got the red dress below - which was $6.00 by the way) and bought another 4 or 5 dress that need serious help. I'll be working on those during the week - hopefully the heat wave breaks and my own personal sweatshop will become comfortable for sewing. 

Before: A large skirt -
way too big for me, but I liked the pattern and light material.

After: A cute over the shoulder summer dress, with an asymmetrical hemline and matching sash. Drinks with the girls? Although it's pretty short - may be a standing around dress rather than sitting on a bar stool dress. 

Before: It doesn't look it
but this is a size 18 dress. I liked the print.

After: A me-size dress, sleeves removed,
matching sash (hard to see in this pic.) I'll wear this to work.